Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Features

TORONTO, Sept. 24 -- Celestica Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to divest its Power Systems business to C&D Technologies, the companies said today. Celestica will continue to build certain power products for C&D for the next three years.

Terms of the all-cash transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close within 30 days.

The transaction includes the assets and employees of Power Systems.

BOSTON, Sept. 20, 2004 — Teradyne Inc. today cut its outlook for the September quarter, citing lower customer spending.

"Our customers are reducing their spending in the face of what appears to be an industry-wide slowdown," said Michael Bradley, president and CEO. "As a result, we are now projecting third quarter shipments to be between $450 million and $470 million. Our earnings per share are now expected to be between 21 and 26 cents, on a diluted basis."

Teradyne had previously projected sales of between $530 million to $560 million for the third quarter, with earnings per share projected to be between 39 and 46 cents.

Teradyne will report third quarter results on Oct. 19.

Mentor Links PADS to Outside Libraries
09-23-2004

by Mike Buetow

WILSONVILLE, OR, Sept. 22 -— A pair of component libraries will now be available within Mentor Graphics' PADS PCB design flow.

Under a just announced agreement, PADS design tool users will have access to symbol and footprint databases of Optimum Design Associates (optimumdesign.com) and PCB Libraries (pcblibraries.com).

The arrangement should cut library creation times for users, Mentor said.

"Optimum and PCB Libraries allow direct interaction with suppliers of quality component symbols and footprints," said Syed Gilani, PADS general manager, in a press statement. This access can translate into significant time and resource savings as the designer will not need to develop libraries from scratch for use within the PADS flow."

Rhode Island -- AIM has appointed Cluff and Associates as manufacturers' rep for the company's line of solders and related assembly materials in Colorado.

Cluff & Associates, headquartered in Denver, CO, specializes in sales, service and customer support for electronic production materials and equipment.

AIM is a global manufacturer of assembly materials for the electronics industry. The company produces solder paste, liquid flux, cored wire, bar solder, adhesives, preforms and specialty alloys such as indium and gold for the electronics assembly, PC fabrication, component manufacturing and other industries.

NEENAH, Wis., Sept. 22 -- Plexus Corp. will take up to $13 million in restructuring charges and close its Bothell, WA, plant, the company said today.

By the end of its fiscal 2005 second quarter, the company will lay off 160 workers and close 100,000 sq. ft. of capacity, Plexus said in a press statement.

The move is expected to generate $2 million in pretax savings per year.

The closure is not expected to impact fiscal 2004 fourth quarter revenue or EPS guidance (excluding restructuring charges and valuation allowance. Plexus updated its revenue guidance to be at the low end of its previously announced range of $270 million to $280 million.

The company will take charges over the next three quarters, $4 million to $5 million in the fourth quarter and $6 million to $8 million over the following two quarters.

Plexus also said start-up costs of its new Malaysian facility are higher than expected, due in part to a slower-than-expected rate of customer qualifications.

St. Petersburg, FL, Sept. 21 -- Jabil Circuit posted better-than-expected net income of $44.3 million, up from $20.1 million last year.

For its fiscal fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, revenue climbed to $1.63 billion from $1.30 billion. Excluding one-time charges items, Jabil posted a profit of $54.7 million.

The company guided for 2005 revenue of $7.2 billion to $7.4 billion, $1.75 billion to $1.85 billion in the first quarter.

Jabil president Tim Main told analysts during a conference call yesterday that conditions in the industry were stable. "I would characterize the current environment as stable and steady. From my perspective, the prospects for our business and industry are as good as they've been at any time in the last four years,"

The company reported new program wins in consumer, instrumentation and medical, and peripheral applications. However, it said it saw weakness in communications.

Caskh from operations was nearly $100 million, and cash conversion cycle days remained at 26.

Carlsbad, CA, Sept. 10 -- Asymtek has added four teams of distributors to represent its line of automated fluid dispensing systems in China, the company said.

The firms will provide on-site equipment service, training, and applications support.

The firms are:

D-TEK, headquartered in Taiwan, has offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou and DongGuan, China.
Leeport is based in Hong Kong, with offices in Bejing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chongqin, China. Other locations include Singapore, Taiwan, Macau and Malaysia.
Bejing-based ATS also has offices in Tianjin and Shanghai.
SSI Shanghai is a wholly owned subsidiary of SSI Taiwan, headquartered in Taipei. Other locations include Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Asymtek is retaining an existing rep firm, Electronic Scientific Engineering.